Next Level Chef: All about new ITV cookery contest with Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay’s hit reality cooking competition Next Level Chef is on its way to UK screens.

After launching Stateside last year, a British series will launch on ITV1 and ITVX this week (11 January).

Billed as the toughest and most epic cooking contest on TV, it sees talented chefs compete across with three unique kitchen spaces set across three storeys and almost 50ft high.

Gordon Ramsay will be one of three expert mentors and judges who will critique and support the contestants as they compete for a £100,000 prize and a year’s mentorship from the panel.

Joining Ramsay on this culinary journey and to help mentor the contestants are Michelin Star Chef and Gordon’s former protege, Paul Ainsworth and American Chef and breakout star of Next Level Chef US, Nyesha Arrington.

ITV share: “Each floor will test the contestants’ culinary creativity, agility, flare, and expertise, as they vie to progress to the Next Level.

“From the top-level state of the art kitchen utopia to the gloomy basement level ‘scraps only’ surroundings, Next Level Chef will task its chefs to prove they can thrive in any environment.

“In a quest to unearth the culinary world’s next sensation, Gordon Ramsay will be joined by two of the most elite names in food, as the three judges preside over and mentor a group of talented chefs who will compete against each other to prove they can handle the heat in any kitchen space that is thrown at them.

“The contestants will be under the watchful eyes of the panel across all three floors as they battle it out to produce the most mouth-watering dishes and avoid elimination.

“Ultimately, only one can be named Next Level Chef, and the winner will receive a life changing cash prize of £100k and a one-year mentorship under all three mentors.”

Gordon Ramsay said: “Next Level Chef is off the chart Next Level everything! A culinary competition that is epic on every level. From the size of the enormous structure to every challenge, every moment of jeopardy is huge.

“I want to see our chefs, social media stars, home cooks whatever their level, whatever their experience, show me what they can do.

“Whether they’re at the top cooking in the dream kitchen with every gadget and the finest ingredients or in the middle kitchen, good equipment, good ingredients but nothing fancy or, and this is where it gets really interesting, down in the basement kitchen. Super basic, minimal ingredients and left-over scraps then show me what you’re really made of!

“Talent and tenacity will absolutely shine through, and someone will walk away with an equally Next Level prize, I can’t wait to get started!”

Katie Rawcliffe at ITV added: “Next Level Chef is a dynamic, edge of your seat cooking competition in a league of its own. We’re so excited to welcome Gordon back to the UK and get started on perhaps the most ambitious TV studio the world has to offer!”